


Parallels

by ars_blindperson



Category: Ars Paradoxica (Podcast), Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Gen, Speculation, a bit of an AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 10:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12010404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ars_blindperson/pseuds/ars_blindperson
Summary: In one reality he was Anthony Partridge, a mathematician. In another reality he was Heleos, a state-of-the-art AI. In both realities he was told that he, or his work, wasn’t good enough and shipped off to somewhere else.





	Parallels

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the remake of "Succulent Rat Killing Tar" that the ars PARADOXICA crew made around the end of last year. I've had this idea in my head for months ad months, and now I've finally gotten it down in writing. Please enjoy and don't be afraid to let me know what you think. :)

In one reality he was Anthony Partridge, a mathematician. In another reality he was Heleos, a state-of-the-art AI. In both realities he was told that he, or his work, wasn’t good enough and shipped off to somewhere else.

In both realities, in both places, he made friends. His closest friend being in Sally in one reality Dana in the other, although things hadn’t exactly been cordial at the start. He and Sally didn’t get along because Sally’s project replaced his, and he and Dana hadn’t always gotten along because… well… Dana had been exposed to too many evil sci-fi AIs to make her entirely comfortable with Heleos at first. But these were all things they were able to work around, and by the time the shit hit the fan the potential that could become Anthony Patridge and Heleos and the being that had the potential to be both Sally Grissom, sorry, Dr. Sally Grissom ad Dana Eiffel were the closest of friends.

And then Hilbert scooped out Heleos’ brain, and Anthony was exiled to the Blackroom for his crimes. Things continued on but not without huge changes. Heleos was able to continue to operate even with a hole in his head. Maxwell helped with that when he arrived. Anthony was able to work out a communication method with Sally, but the timing, ha, was erratic at best and horrifically slow at worst. And life went on for a while while the potential that could be Anthony Partridge, isolated but not alone, and Heleos, the changed but not broken AI, found something they could call normal. For a time.

And then even more shit hit the fan. 

Maxwell forcing Heleos to follow his orders even though that’s what he’d been teaching Heleos not to listen to orders coming from his own brain. And then Maxwell was dead. And then Maxwell was dead and so was Hilbert. And then so was Captain Lovelace. And then the Contact Event happened and Lovelace wasn’t dead anymore. And now the crew wanted to leave. And Heleos couldn’t honestly blaim them even if he really, really, wanted things to be different. And as if things couldn’t get worse Dana had decided to dive headfirst into the star while Heleos was going through his system reset. And now? Well… Heleos wasn’t sure what happened next. And that uncertainty was a truly awful thing.

Sally’s calls to Anthony had gradually gotten more and more spaced out. Sitting outside the timestream as he did it was hard to tell how much time had really passed, both for him and for her. Secretly he was terrified she had, just, forgotten him. But that wasn’t all. The messages from ODAR had gradually stopped coming as well. At first, Anthony had worked through as much of the messages as quickly as he could, but as the messages and calls slowed he began working more slowly. He started to take his time. After all, time didn’t mean anything here. Eventually there was only one message that he hadn’t answered. He didn’t know he had left in this timeless place. He didn’t know when to answer the message. It would get when it needed to. They always did. But once he answered it, he would be completely alone with nothing but his own voice for company.

And so the potential that was both Anthony Partridge and Heleos now faced a dark, uncertain future.


End file.
